Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

”Calm down. I’ll go and meet his family myself.”

Ragnar stayed on the call throughout the car ride.

It was Gigi.

She wanted to stay on the phone with him after she found out we had been attacked and that our driver had passed away.

She had been crying the entire time. I could hear her voice through the phone.

That’s how loud she was.

And I really wanted to bang my head against the window.

I had thought that maybe, on the way back, we would talk.

I’d build some kind of connection where, if not physically, we could at least become emotionally attached or simply grow comfortable with each other.

But no.

Gigi wouldn’t let him end the call, not even once.

And what surprised me most was the way she was crying.

For a driver.

Knowing Gigi, she would never shed a tear for anyone if it wasn’t for herself.

I mean, not even when she threw me out of my house.

I know she didn’t feel guilty.

I promise she never even stopped to think about what would happen to me out in the world.

Flashback

”Please let her stay. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go,” my mother pleaded.

I was standing outside her room.

Her husband had arrived, and it was pretty obvious he didn’t want me back in the mansion.

”Baby, it’s not about her. It’s about the fact that my daughter suffers because of her.”

His voice was loud and thunderous.

I remembered when Justin and I had first arrived.

He had yelled at us because Veronica had a problem with us sitting at the dining table.

He had shouted so loudly, ordering us to get away from the table and eat somewhere else, that I had almost peed myself.

I had been very little then.

But that memory still haunted me.

”And why is she back now? Where is her brother? Wasn’t he supposed to take care of her? Didn’t he do all those exercises and social work at such a young age to convince the council leaders that he could take care of her? And now he’s just left her on her own?”

Lord Mason Lockwood muttered, making my lips curl downward.

Veronica stood in the distance with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at me while the maids gathered around her, trying to cheer her up.

”Please, can’t I keep my daughter here? Just for a little while. I promise she won’t go anywhere near Veronica. Please,” my mother pleaded.

By that point, I was wondering why I had come here at all.

I should have gone to another shelter instead.

”Please,” my mother begged again, her voice almost cracking.

Then I finally heard Lord Mason say, ”Fine. She can stay here as long as she doesn’t get herself into any trouble with Veronica.”

Those words reminded me what it felt like to be loved and cherished, and what it felt like to be at someone else’s mercy.

End of Flashback

I watched Ragnar put his phone down, but it was still on speaker, so I could tell Gigi had asked him to stay on the call with her.

Well, I acted like I hadn’t noticed.

”Are you okay?” I asked.

Ragnar looked at me, confusion written across his face.

”I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this because you already know it, but you’re really a kind Alpha King.”

My words made him blink several times.

He was so fucking insolent that even when someone praised him, he looked genuinely shocked, as if nobody was supposed to compliment him without wanting something in return.

That’s how high his ego was.

”But I’ve never seen anyone in authority be so concerned about a driver’s family. I truly appreciate it.” I smiled.

”No wonder you were blessed with Gigi. The Moon Goddess really brought two kind souls together.”

I remarked carefully as I looked out the window.

I could almost feel the tension radiating from him.

It was as if he wanted to call me out, grunt at me, tell me I was lying, or accuse me of overreacting.

But he didn’t.

In the end, my words had probably made Gigi smile to herself, and he wasn’t about to ruin that.

Well, Gigi never ended the call.

Finally, we arrived at my neighborhood.

Whenever such a luxurious car entered the omega community, everyone’s attention turned toward it.

Heads peeked through windows.

People stood on every corner, watching us and pointing.

And this only happened because of me.

Ever since I had come to live here, the Alpha King’s visits had become fairly regular.

I could already imagine people talking about it.

”Thank you for dropping me off,” I said to Alpha King Ragnar as I stepped out of the car.

But before I had even taken my bag out, my eyes landed on the person standing on the porch.

Fucking Roman Wells.

Ugh.

What was I supposed to do with him?

He was so fucking annoying.

He was holding a bouquet and a few boxes of chocolates.

I realized he had probably come here to make things right.

Or maybe to erase the memory of him abusing me.

So maybe I wasn’t having such bad luck after all.

”Goodbye,” I said to Ragnar again after dragging my bag out and wheeling it behind me.

I slowed my pace as I walked toward my house.

Then I finally reached Roman.

”I’m sorry,” he pleaded, immediately shoving the bouquet into my hands before holding his ears and dropping into squats as punishment.

I knew who was watching.

The Alpha King.So, I let Roman play himself.

Well, Alpha King Ragnar had already thought Roman was my boyfriend.

He had asked me if my boyfriend was abusing me.

Roman standing there, holding his ears and apologizing, was definitely going to reveal the truth.

”It’s alright,” I told Roman gently.

”I’m just angry with myself.”

I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

He quickly followed me into the house.

I hated the feeling of coming home after being away for a few days.

Except for one distant memory of returning home without my brother, every place I had ever called home smelled the same.

It smelled like loneliness.

”Please, tell me you don’t hate me?” Roman asked, pulling me back to reality.

I turned and gave him a tired look.

”No matter what you do–”

I paused as my gaze shifted toward the door, where I noticed a shadow.

Someone was outside.

So I had to choose my words carefully.

”Because sometimes your abuse gets to be too much, and yet I’m so lonely that I convince myself it’s okay.”

I sniffled.

”That if I let you abuse me, one day you’ll finally—finally treat me better.”

As I started to cry, I buried my face in my hands.

Someone outside the door moved and so did Roman.

Roman quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

”I’m so sorry. I’ll control my aggression from now on,” he promised.